This invention is related generally to decorative bricks and brickwork and, more particularly, to bricks used for aesthetic display.
Bricks and brickwork, including bricks and brickwork for patios, are a well known art. Indeed, bricks having been made and used since as far back as 1330 B.C. Bricks are one of mankind""s oldest known manufactured materials, and have been found in the ruins of ancient civilizations including parts of the Great Wall of China.
Bricks are made from a mixture usually comprised of clay and shale that has been ground to a fine consistency. Such a mixture is mixed with water, blended and then fired to approximately 2000xc2x0 F. During such heating process, the molecular and/or crystalline structure of the clay is changed; the clay is vitrified much like a clay pot that has gone through a firing process. The color of brick is determined by the raw materials it contains, the additives and coatings applied to the surface, and the variance of firing atmosphere known as xe2x80x9cflashing.xe2x80x9d
Brick has long been used for construction of walking or driving surfaces because of its excellent strength and wear resistance, and also because of its attractive decorative appearance. Decorative brick is particularly popular for patios and the like, and the term xe2x80x9cpatioxe2x80x9d is used herein to refer to any generally horizontal walking or driving surface, whether or not particular examples of such surfaces are commonly referred to by that term.
Another popular display surface, primarily horizontal for walking thereon, is what is referred to as a mosaic. A mosaic surface is formed, for example, by inlaid bits or pieces of stone, often pieces which are of generally similar sizes (within a wide range of sizes) by very random shapes. While mosaics may often be formed to achieve particular recognizable images, the term xe2x80x9cmosaicsxe2x80x9d as used herein refers to a group of pieces laid together to form a surface, whether or not there is some intended image.
Laying horizontal patio surfaces using a great number of somewhat randomly shaped pieces of stone, brick material or the like, in some sort of mosaic pattern or the like, is an extremely expensive and time-consuming process, but the resulting patio surfaces are usually extremely attractive and valuable.
Bricks of varying decorative face types are well known in the art. It is also known in the brick art that the face of the brick can be changed by applying various coatings, by scoring the surface, or other surface treatments, in order to create differing surface textures. Although such varying of the brick face is known, it is not known to alter the brick so as to create a mosaic appearance that is aesthetically pleasing and yet is readilyy capable of being easily installed and displayed in brickwork such as that associated with a patio.
A unitary decorative brick that creates a realistic appearance of being a multiplicity of separate pieces, rather than one, would be an important improvement in the art as it would allow for the creation of a wide variety of aesthetic displays, such as mosaics, and would do so in minimal time and for a low cost.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved decorative brick with mosaic-like appearance that overcomes some of the problems and shortcomings of the prior art.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved decorative brick which can be used to create mosaic-like patios.
Another object of this invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a decorative brick which brick overcomes some of the problems and shortcomings of the prior art.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a decorative brick which allows rapid creation of mosaic-like patios.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved decorative brick, and a method for making a decorative brick with a preformed display face.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved decorative brick and method for making a decorative brick with display-face portions giving the visual impression of each portion representing a separate solid piece as is typically used in formation of mosaic surfaces.
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following descriptions and from the drawings.
The invention involves an improved decorative brick where the brick, as with most brick, has a display face and aback face that axe spaced apart by a first dimension. The improvement involves each such brick having a network of interconnected grooves opening at its display face. The grooves have widths at the display face and extend from the display face into the brick toward, but stopping short of, the back face. The depths of such grooves are at least twice the widths of the such grooves at the display face.
In certain embodiments of the invention, the grooves extend from the display face toward the back face to a depth that is at least four times the widths of the grooves. The interconnected grooves preferably have varying widths, and any one groove of the network may itself have varying widths along its length.
Referring more specifically to the grooves, each of the grooves has (a) an elongate open end formed by a pair of spaced edges defining a gap at the display face and (b) an elongate closed end spaced from the display face. The gap at the open end is of first width(s), and the closed end is of second width(s) which is (are) narrower than the first width(s). The interconnected grooves preferably have gaps of varying widths, and as already indicated at least one of the individual grooves preferably has a gap of varying widths along its length.
In preferred embodiments, the first dimension, which separates the display face from the back face of the brick, is about 2xc2xd to 3 inches and the depth(s) of the grooves is (are) at least about xc2xd inch and the widths of the grooves are least about {fraction (1/16)}th of an inch.
It is highly preferred that a filler be located within the interconnected grooves. In one version of such embodiment, the filler is sand. The sand is preferably loosely located within the grooves. Such a network of grooves forms a mosaic on the display face, and the sand or other filler serves to enhance the mosaic-like appearance of the decorative brick of this invention.
The invention also involves a method for making decorative bricks comprising the steps of: (1) preparing a brick-material mix; (2) inserting the brick-material mix into a mold; (3) placing a surface-molding panel on the brick-material mix, the surface-molding panel having an inboard side that includes a network of protrusions that are at least twice as long as they are wide and that extend into the brick-material mix; (4) firing the brick-material mix in an oven until hardened into a brick; (5) taking the hardened brick-material mix out of the oven; (6) removing the cover panel from the mold, thereby exposing a decorative brick having a display face with a network of interconnected grooves; and (7) dislodging the brick from the mold.
In a preferred embodiment of the inventive method, the surface-molding panel is removed prior to firing the brick-material mix.
Another aspect of this invention is a decorative-brick patio which is formed of a multiplicity of bricks of the invention. That is, the patio includes decorative bricks each of which has a display face and a back face spaced apart by a first dimension, the decorative bricks each having thereon a network of interconnected grooves having widths, such grooves extending from the display face toward the back face to depths that are at least twice, and preferably four times, the widths.
As indicated above, the decorative bricks of the patio of this invention preferably have a first dimension, i.e., the dimension which separates the display face and the back face, of at least about 2xc2xd inches, and the depths of the grooves are at preferably at least about xc2xd inch.
In certain highly preferred embodiments, the decorative bricks forming the patio include a plurality of first decorative bricks and a plurality of second decorative bricks, the first decorative bricks having square display faces of a first fixed size and the second decorative bricks have rectangular display faces which are substantially equal in size and shape to one-half of the display faces of one of the first decorative bricks.
The first decorative bricks and second decorative bricks of such patio are preferably positioned among each other in an edge-adjacent array. Most preferably, the first decorative bricks in the array are oriented in a plurality of different orientations, and the second decorative bricks in the array are oriented in a plurality of different orientations. This greatly enhances the mosaic simulation, because it creates a large number of relationships which tend to xe2x80x9chidexe2x80x9d the fact that, at least in some embodiments, all the first decorative bricks have the same patterns of interconnected grooves, and all of the second decorative bricks have the same patterns (but different from the pattern of the first decorative bricks) of interconnected grooves.
The variation and decorative appearance of patios in accordance with this invention can also be enhanced by using decorative bricks of this invention with markedly difference densities of xe2x80x9cpiecesxe2x80x9d on their decorative faces.